# 17 A season of renewal

It's been a while. Thought you might be wondering how I'm doing ...

God has been faithful to answer many prayers and provide for our needs in abundance.

My recovery is progressing well. My abdominal wound finally healed and closed, but the scar is deep and I seemingly have the appearance of two belly buttons! The scar is now flattening out and for the first time in probably 20 years, I have nice flat (though not yet toned) abs! Now to tone them up and keep them that way!

In mid-January, I started driving again and regained some degree of freedom - around urgent & frequent needs for a bathroom! My taste buds finally returned from their vacation and food has never tasted so good! I am hungry all the time and eat pretty much anything, even though most of it boards a "south-bound express train"! The last week in January I returned to work part-time, as my energy and personal needs allowed. It was great to see my colleagues again and get back into the swing of things.

In February I resumed my chicken-keeping duties, which includes hauling four gallons of water and a 5-gallon bucket of wet feed to the chickens daily (at our off-grid property) — much of it in sub-freezing temps! I also started walking a slow (30-min) mile at the YMCA gym once or twice a week. I have that down to 20 minutes now. {I will forever marvel at my brother-in-law who can run a marathon at an ~8 mph pace for 3+ hours!!}

Thankfully we had an unusually mild winter this year, with only a couple of late snow storms in March. Still, spring has taken a while to convince us of its arrival, but the fruiting trees are starting to blossom, as are daffodils & hyacinths, so I guess it's finally here. Which means time in the garden. I have been waiting since October last year to get back in the garden and make up for lost time! I have grand aspirations for establishing a 40ft x 40ft veggie garden at the "chicken ranch" and a big pumpkin/squash/melon patch that will survive the deer & rabbits! Oh, and I want to build new chicken coops (we have around 50 chooks!) and re-landscape their yard.

I have begun a 12-week LIVESTRONG cancer wellness program at the YMCA. We meet twice a week. I have a personalized exercise program to rebuild strength, flexibility, & endurance. They'll bring in specialists to speak about nutrition, wellness, & cancer stuff, and they're going to give us an opportunity to try out some classes - yoga, pilates, spinning, aqua-aerobics, zumba... There's about 12 of us cancer battlers & survivors and we're off to a great start!

I have tallied 17 doctor appointments so far this year. This week was a doozie with four appointments! I've added a gastroenterologist to my medical entourage to give new eyes to my bowel "resettlement" issues. I had a nerve test to look into the cause of my neuropathy. Nothing outstanding apparently, and it appears to be a late-onset side-effect of my chemotherapy, possibly permanent. At least it's not painful, just annoying. It can be managed with meds. I also had the second of two iron infusions to resolve anemia. And to round out the week, a colonoscopy — to check up on the former tumor site, look for any new polyps, and collect samples to test for any bacterial infections. The rest of the month is pretty quiet on the appointment front.

A recent and rare moment of mutual happiness captured forever!
We celebrated a year with our dear Biskit on April 2. Her 3rd birthday is next week!